Abstract: Provided is a temporary treatment medium for inhibiting embryo developmental arrest due to manipulation of an embryo or the like. A temporary treatment medium according to the present invention reduces damage to an in-vitro culture due to manipulation thereof, said in-vitro culture containing one of pluripotent stem cells, reproductive cells, a fertilized egg, and an embryo or any combination thereof. For this purpose, the temporary treatment medium contains a cytoskeleton regulator and/or an apoptosis inhibitor. The cytoskeleton regulator and/or the apoptosis inhibitor is preferably an Rho kinase inhibitor. Specifically, a Rock inhibitor can be used as the Rho kinase inhibitor. The Rock inhibitor is, for example, Y-27632. The temporary treatment medium is used for treating an in-vitro culture for a specific period before and/or after manipulation involving damage thereto.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for producing a cell tissue of blood vessels or the like with the use of an electrostatic ink jet phenomenon are provided. A pattern generator for cell tissue patterning on a substrate includes at least one vessel for holding a solution containing materials used for cell tissue formation, a substrate that is an object of patterning, and a pattern generator including a voltage applying unit for applying a voltage to the vessel. The voltage is applied to the vessel by the voltage applying unit to generate an electric field between the vessel and the substrate, causing the solution to be ejected from the vessel as a result of an electrostatic ink jet phenomenon and allowing the ejected solution to adhere to the substrate.

Abstract: Provided is a method for preparing B cells which produce a human-type antibody, comprising substituting an antibody gene of B cells with a human antibody gene, wherein the B cells are non-human vertebrate B cells capable of inducing or halting AID (activation induced cytidine deaminase) expression with the induction of the expression of an exogenous Cre recombinase gene through extracellular stimulation followed by the inversion of the direction of the exogenous AID gene by expressed Cre recombinase.

Abstract: An ELID honing device includes a honing tool 10 positioned above a workpiece 1 having a hollow cylindrical inner surface, and vertically movable and rotationally drivable about a vertical rotation axis while being rockably suspended from an upper end, and a honing guide 20 positioned in proximity to an upper portion of the workpiece to guide the honing tool to the hollow cylindrical inner surface. The honing tool 10 has a fixed guide 12 having a predetermined radius R from the rotation axis to its outer peripheral surface, and honing stones 14a and 14b having outer peripheral surfaces movable in parallel from a diameter-increased position outside the radius R to a diameter-reduced position inside the radius R and capable of being electrolytically dressed. Further, the honing guide 20 has a hollow cylindrical ELID electrode 22 having an inner surface 22a for guiding an outer peripheral surface of the fixed guide of the honing tool and capable of being subjected to a negative voltage.

Abstract: An objective of the present invention is to provide methods for introducing DNAs encoding a desired amino acid sequence into a region comprising a DNA encoding an antibody variable region of antibody-producing cells. The present inventors developed methods for efficiently introducing DNAs encoding a desired amino acid sequence into the antibody variable region gene locus of DT40-SW, which is a mutant line of the DT40 chicken B cell line which has the ability to spontaneously introduce mutations. This allows mutagenesis of introduced DNAs to modify the polypeptides to have superior functions. In particular, the present inventors revealed the nucleotide sequence of the antibody H chain variable region gene locus of the DT40 cell line. Based on this finding, the present inventors successfully constructed targeting vectors that allow efficient substitution of the antibody H chain variable region gene locus of the DT40 cell line with a gene encoding a desired polypeptide.

Abstract: Methods are provided for selecting B cells that produce a desired antibody, comprising a step of culturing B cells, which have the properties of cell death being induced under specific conditions and that cell death being suppressed by a signal generated as a result of the binding between an antigen and an antibody expressed on B cell surface (B cell antigen receptor on the B cell surface), with an antigen under conditions in which cell death is induced, and selecting antibody-producing B cells that bind with the antigen as viable cells.

Abstract: According to the present invention, a method and an apparatus for producing a cell tissue of blood vessels or the like with the use of an electrostatic ink jet phenomenon are provided. The following is provided: a pattern generator for cell tissue patterning on a substrate, which comprises at least one vessel for holding a solution containing materials used for cell tissue formation, a substrate that is an object of patterning, and a voltage applying unit for applying a voltage to the vessel, wherein a voltage is applied to the vessel by the voltage applying unit in order to generate an electric field between the vessel and the substrate, causing the solution to be ejected from the vessel as a result of an electrostatic ink jet phenomenon and allowing the ejected solution to adhere to the substrate.

Abstract: An ELID honing device includes a honing tool 10 positioned above a workpiece 1 having a hollow cylindrical inner surface, and vertically movable and rotationally drivable about a vertical rotation axis while being rockably suspended from an upper end, and a honing guide 20 positioned in proximity to an upper portion of the workpiece to guide the honing tool to the hollow cylindrical inner surface. The honing tool 10 has a fixed guide 12 having a predetermined radius R from the rotation axis to its outer peripheral surface, and honing stones 14a and 14b having outer peripheral surfaces movable in parallel from a diameter-increased position outside the radius R to a diameter-reduced position inside the radius R and capable of being electrolytically dressed. Further, the honing guide 20 has a hollow cylindrical ELID electrode 22 having an inner surface 22a for guiding an outer peripheral surface of the fixed guide of the honing tool and capable of being subjected to a negative voltage.

Abstract: There is disclosed a micro surface shape measurement probe including a probe shaft 4 having at a distant end thereof a probe member 2 for contacting an object 1 to be measured, a probe body 21 provided with support means for movably supporting the probe shaft 4 in a non-contact manner, a pressing device for pressing and moving the probe shaft 4 toward the object 1 to be measured, a piezoelectric sensor 8a incorporated in the probe body 21 so that a reactive force acts to a pressing force applied to the probe shaft by the pressing device, a load detecting device 8b to measure a load acting on the piezoelectric sensor, a control device 9 for adjusting the pressing force applied by the pressing device based on the load detected by the load detecting device, and a displacement amount measuring device for measuring a position of the probe member 2 in contact with the object 1 to be measured by the pressing force adjusted by the control device 9.

Abstract: In a method for cutting ferrous material in accordance with the present invention, a water-soluble cutting fluid containing nanometer-size carbon particles is electrolyzed, and a ferrous workpiece is cut by a diamond cutting tool 9 while supplying the electrolyzed water-soluble cutting fluid onto a cutting point between the diamond cutting tool 9 and the ferrous workpiece.

Abstract: There is provided a mechanochemical sensor including a minute mechanical structure body having the functional membrane formed at least on one part of its surface, a supporting part for supporting the minute mechanical structure body; and a detection part for detecting the change of a mechanical property of the minute mechanical structure body. According to the invention, it is possible to provide improved adhesion between the functional membrane and the minute mechanical structure body since the functional membrane is integrally formed in advance on the minute mechanical structure body, which will contribute to the increase of detection signal, and improvement of measurement precision and sensitivity.

Abstract: There are provided a base frame 12 positioned below a horizontal axis O; a pair of clamp units 14 positioned at the two ends above the base frame; a pair of support units 16 that horizontally support the long workpiece in two locations, and that are capable of moving vertically; and machining units 18 that are capable of machining the long workpiece. The two clamp units 14 are capable of moving from the outside toward the inside, which support the long workpiece in two locations, and rotate around the horizontal axis O in synchronization with each other.

Abstract: Methods are provided for selecting B cells that produce a desired antibody, comprising a step of culturing B cells, which have the properties of cell death being induced under specific conditions and that cell death being suppressed by a signal generated as a result of the binding between an antigen and an antibody expressed on B cell surface (B cell antigen receptor on the B cell surface), with an antigen under conditions in which cell death is induced, and selecting antibody-producing B cells that bind with the antigen as viable cells.

Abstract: V-CAD data is prepared by dividing external data 12 consisting of boundary data of an object into rectangular parallelepiped cells 13 having boundary planes orthogonal to each other in accordance with octree division and separating the respective divided cells into internal cells 13a positioned on the inner side of the object and boundary cells 13b including a boundary face, and a modeling unit quantity of a prototyping material 7 is changed in accordance with sizes of the internal cell 13a and the boundary cell 13b of a modeling portion. The prototyping material 7 is a resin, lumber powder, a low-fusing-point metal, metal powder, ceramics powder or a mixture of a binder and one of these materials, and its modeling unit quantity is set in such a manner that the modeling unit quantity is smaller than a capacity of a corresponding cell and does not protrude from the boundary plane of the cell.

Abstract: An apparatus for controlling a neutron beam includes a plurality of columnar prisms 1 that are made of a material having a refractive index of less than 1 for a neutron beam, and are arranged so as to be multi-layered. The columnar prisms 1 each have an approximately right-triangle-shaped section, and are three-dimensionally multi-layered such that respective surfaces 1a, 1b, 1c of the columnar prisms are in parallel to one another. Stick-shaped members 5 are made of the above material, the stick-shaped members 5 are set in a plurality of grooves formed on a jig 6 that have the same shape, and upper surfaces of the grooves are flattened at the same time.

Abstract: The micro-molding equipment contains a preform molding equipment 10 taking a single-cavity of a preform material 3 corresponding to a small precision optical component to be molded with a runnerless mold, and a precision compression molding equipment 40 for after molding the preform material 3 by primary compression molding in a vacuum state, cooling the preform material to a temperature near a glass transition point, and then re-softening a surface layer of the preform material and molding the same by secondary compression molding to transfer the small precision optical component thereto.

Abstract: There are provided a base frame 12 positioned below a horizontal axis O; a pair of clamp units 14 positioned at the two ends above the base frame; a pair of support units 16 that horizontally support the long workpiece in two locations, and that are capable of moving vertically; and machining units 18 that are capable of machining the long workpiece. The two clamp units 14 are capable of moving from the outside toward the inside, which support the long workpiece in two locations, and rotate around the horizontal axis O in synchronization with each other.

Abstract: There is provided a micro-pattern forming apparatus including an electrospraying part for applying a voltage to a solution containing a sample to electrostatically atomizing the solution; a supporting part (30) for supporting a chip (26), on which the sample in the solution electrostatically atomized by the electrospraying part, is to be deposited; and a fine mask part (24) disposed between the electrospraying part and the supporting part, having a mask pattern for being passed through by the electrostatically atomized solution in order to form a micro-pattern of the sample upon the chip, wherein the mask pattern is made from a photoresist material with concavity and convexity on the side of the supporting part.

Abstract: There is disclosed a micro surface shape measurement probe including a probe shaft 4 having at a distant end thereof a probe member 2 for contacting an object 1 to be measured, a probe body 21 provided with support means for movably supporting the probe shaft 4 in a non-contact manner, a pressing device for pressing and moving the probe shaft 4 toward the object 1 to be measured, a piezoelectric sensor 8a incorporated in the probe body 21 so that a reactive force acts to a pressing force applied to the probe shaft by the pressing device, a load detecting device 8b to measure a load acting on the piezoelectric sensor, a control device 9 for adjusting the pressing force applied by the pressing device based on the load detected by the load detecting device, and a displacement amount measuring device for measuring a position of the probe member 2 in contact with the object 1 to be measured by the pressing force adjusted by the control device 9.

Abstract: (A) V-CAD data of an object (1) is prepared. (B) A processed surface shape after NC processing is predicted by simulation using the V-CAD data. (C) The object is subjected to NC processing by a predetermined NC program, and a processed surface shape after NC processing is measured, and (D) processing correction data is obtained from a difference between the processed surface shapes acquired by simulation and measurement, and the NC program is corrected based on the processing correction data. As a result, the ultra-precise processing is enabled even if a workpiece or a tool has low rigidity and an inconstant quantity of deformation.